Jessica Diggins, left, and Kikkan Randall of the United States celebrate after winning the gold medal in Wednesday’s cross-country team sprint freestyle race.
Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall came from behind to win a surprise cross-country gold medal in Wednesday night’s team sprint freestyle, ending one of the the United States’ longest-running Olympic droughts with a dramatic upset.

The American skiers overtook a pair of more heralded teams to finish the final in a time of 15 min, 56.47 sec, edging Sweden for the gold by 0.19 seconds and coming in nearly three seconds ahead of Norway, who added a bronze to their overflowing cross-country medal haul in Pyeongchang.

Glitter and grit: Jessie Diggins is one of America's best hopes for Olympic gold

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“I just felt unstoppable,” Diggins said. “I am in the best shape of my life right now for sure. That feeling of crossing the line and having Kikkan tackle me was the coolest thing ever.”

Diggins and Randall became the first ever American women to win any medal in cross-country skiing, much less a gold. They join Bill Koch, a silver medalist in the 30km event at the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, as the only US skiers to make an Olympic podium in a sport dominated by athletes from Scandinavia.

The Americans earned a spot in the front row of the final by posting the fastest time in the second of two semi-finals with a mark of 16 min 22.56 sec, more than 10 seconds better than Norway’s winning time in the first.

“I felt better every round today,” Randall said. “I felt strong in the semi-final, I was trying to conserve energy. In the final, every lap I felt stronger and stronger. When we went up that hill I knew I just had to keep us in there. Tactically, I wanted to keep us in there so Jessie could do what she wanted to do on that last lap.”

Diggins, the ebullient talisman of the US team who spends her downtime learning hip-hop dance routines from YouTube tutorials, was third entering the final lap before finding an extra reserve to overtake both the Swedish and Norwegian teams and secure the history-making gold.

“In the final stretch I was just thinking, ‘Go, go, go, I’m giving it everything I had and I’ve got someone who I really love and care about waiting for me at the finishing line and I just want to make her proud’,” Diggins said. “Just believing that we had what it took the entire day.”

America’s Jessica Diggins held on during an enthralling final straight to clinch gold for USA, for the first time in the ladies’ team sprint. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Diggins entered Pyeongchang on a tailwind of optimism with a US-record four world championships medals including a pair of silvers last year to her name.

But an Olympic breakthrough appeared less and less likely as the near-misses piled up over the last week and a half. The 26-year-old finished in the top six in each of her previous four events at these Games but each time failed to reach the podium, none more agonizing than last week’s 10km freestyle where she missed out on a bronze by 3.3 seconds.

“I have been working so hard for so long, the entire team has,” Diggins said. “Being so close to medals so many times this week, I knew I was in good shape and I knew it could happen. This team brings the absolute best out in me.”

The catharsis was different but no less acute for the 35-year-old Randall, who finally broke her Olympic maiden in her 18th career event, setting a Winter Games record for most events before claiming a medal.

“It was hard to make this team and when I got the nod the other day, I knew I had an important job to do,” she said. “It’s just so cool.”

Wednesday’s shock victory by the US team overshadowed an even bigger piece of history as Norway’s Marit Bjørgen, the 37-year-old who took the bronze with team-mate Maiken Caspersen Falla, won a 14th career medal to surpass compatriot Ole Einar Bjourndalen for the most ever medals at the Winter Olympics.

But the night belonged to Diggins and Randall, whose upset win will no doubt buoy the spirits of a US delegation who have slipped badly in the medal table since the weekend.

“Hearing it out loud, it still doesn’t feel real,” Randall said. “It’s what I’ve been working on for 20 years and with this team for the last five years and wow, it’s just so fun to put it together tonight, finally.”